August 2012

August 27, 2012

Radway had a spot on the 53-player roster locked up in 2011, according to Jerry Jones, until three seconds remained in the final preseason game. The former Abilene Christian star broke his tibia and his fibula in the final preseason game against the Dolphins last year, requiring a rod inserted into his left leg. Radway spent last season on injured reserve.

Radway, 25, couldn't find what he lost and was released Monday.

"I know when you’ve had an injury like he’s had, it takes a little time to come back from it," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Monday. "And oftentimes, people say it’s not necessarily the first year back, but the second when I start feeling like myself again. He’s going to play in this league. It's just right now we feel like we had to make this decision for the best of our team."

Radway had no catches this preseason after making six for 91 yards and a touchdown in the 2011 preseason.

I don't know if you remember this, but Jerry Jones breakdancing in a Papa John's commercial exists on the Internet. Well, Jones is back at it and has ditched breakdancing for a more fluid art form -- rap.
"Jerry's breakdancing act in an earlier Papa John's TV spot was a big hit, and we think it's time to show off some of his other talent," said Bob Paine, regional marketing director for Papa John's International in a news release.
The newest commercial is the creation of Michael Tuggle, creative director at Dallas-based advertising agency LOOMIS, and Luminous Sound's two-time Grammy winning recording engineer Tre Nagella.

Danny Coale said Wednesday’s game is a big chance for him to show what he can do not only at receiver, but also on special teams. He figures he must make sure he is valuable in that area as the Cowboys prepare for the final cut on Thursday.

“I’m ready to do some special teams,” he said. “That’s where I think I’m really good, where as a rookie I can contribute. I’m going to have to be able to show up there and contribute there.”

Coale played in his first preseason game Saturday night against St. Louis, catching one pass for eight yards but did not play any special teams.

He said he will probably play on kickoff coverage and return and maybe punt return against Miami.

Coale played 82 snaps on special teams as a senior at Virginia Tech last year, including 13 punts and four punt returns for coach Frank Beamer.

“That was something Coach Beamer always preached,” Coale said. It was never an afterthought. It was at the forefront of our minds. It was something we really understood. Good special teams really can contribute to winning or losing ballgames. I understand the importance of it. There are a lot of great plays to be made.”

Jason Witten has returned to work. Sort of. The Cowboys' Pro Bowl tight end was on the field Monday, working on resistance cords as part of his rehab.

Witten has been out since lacerating his spleen in the exhibition opener against the Raiders on a hit by Oakland linebacker Rolando McClain. He goes back to the doctor Tuesday, and the Cowboys continue to hold out hope that he could play against the Giants.

Center Phil Costa was back on the practice field Monday. Costa strained his lower back Aug. 10. Although starters do not usually play in the exhibition finale, Costa could get some snaps since he has not played in the preseason. He said in the locker room that he felt fine.

Receiver Dez Bryant worked on resistance cords on the side during Monday's practice. Knee tendinitis has kept him sidelined since last week. Miles Austin and DeMarcus Ware also did not practice Monday.

Among the unsettled issues heading into Wednesday’s pre-season finale for the Dallas Cowboys will be the identity of the team’s third quarterback. Stepehen McGee, a fourth-year player from Texas A&M, is battling for the job with Rudy Carpenter, a free-agent signee and former Arizona State player in his third NFL season.

Coach Jason Garrett said both players will “get a lot of snaps” against the Dolphins to showcase their skills. McGee has experience with the Cowboys on his side but Garrett said game action “is the best way that we can evaluate” a third quarterback.

“For a lot of third quarterbacks around the league, these are important nights for those guys,” Garrett said. “(McGee) is going to get a lot of snaps in this ball game, to show what he can do. And Rudy is going to get a lot of snaps in this ball game to show what he can do. It’s an important night for them. We just want them to go out there and have some fun playing football and represent themselves the way they would.”

If the Cowboys are still wondering about NFL discipline for Dez Bryant, coach Jason Garrett gave no hint.

“Well, we’re going to control what we can control as an organization, and Dez has done everything that we’ve asked him to do up to this point, both on and off the football field,” Garrett said Monday, asked about the rules the team has imposed on Bryant, who was arrested in July for domestic violence. “We’re going to continue to just move forward with what we can do as an organization, and any decision about that is out of our control.”

The Cowboys may be trying to at least influence the NFL’s decision, however, by putting restrictions on Bryant off the field. He is not allowed to drink, has a midnight curfew, can’t go into “gentlemen’s clubs,” must attend counseling, be driven to and from practice and have a security escort.

Asked if Bryant willingly agreed to the rules, Garrett talked around that, too.

“I don't want to get into too many specifics about that, other than what I just said,” Garrett said. “We want to support our players. We want to support Dez. You want to support his family. At the same time, hold him accountable to what he needs to do, and we've talked about his development since he's come here as a person and as a player, and I just think he's done a great job. He continues to grow in both of those areas. We need to help him, we need to support him, but again, we need to hold him accountable, and I think this is just an example of that.”

Nose tackle Jay Ratliff won’t practice Monday or Tuesday and is not likely to play in Wednesday night’s preseason finale against Miami while he recovers from a high ankle sprain.

But coach Jason Garrett did not rule him out of the season opener against the New York Giants.

“He’s made progress since the game,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s not going to practice right now. We’ll just see how he is day to day. So we'll just continue to evaluate him. We feel like he has a chance to practice at some point in the near future and possibly play in this ball game.”

The injury could keep Ratliff out two to four weeks. The opener is nine days away, so a turnaround in time for the Giants game would be optimistic.

The Dallas Cowboys have released eight players, including receiver Raymond Radway, this morning to trim their roster to 76. The Cowboys have one additional cut to make before today’s 3 p.m. deadline.

In addition to Radway, who almost made the team last year before breaking his leg in the final pre-season game, other cuts included OT Levy Adcock, P Delbert Alvarado, TE Harry Flaherty, WR David Little, OT Tyrone Novikoff, RB Javarris Williams and CB C.J. Wilson, a former Baylor standout.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett says quarterback Tony Romo continues to play well despite changes in the cast around him.

“He’s been a really good player in this league for a number of years, and he’s done it with different kinds of guys,” Garrett said after Saturday night’s preseason game against St. Louis, in which Romo threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter. “He has had different receiving corps. This is the third or fourth time we’ve turned the receivers over. We’ve turned the offensive line over, and we’ve turned the running backs over. He’s someone who continues to play at a really high level. ... It’s nice to see him play well and play in a good rhythm with the other guys.”

Romo, entering his sixth season as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, is 21-for-32 for 303 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the preseason, despite not having his favorite target, tight end Jason Witten, or top receiver, Miles Austin, available for any of the games, and his second receiver, Dez Bryant, available against the Rams.

Romo is coming off his best season statistically. Last year, he threw 31 touchdowns against 10 interceptions.

“I just think I have to go out and execute the plan, find the open guy, do what you do,” he said. “We get those starters back, obviously it’s going to be a huge boost for us.”

In the absence of Austin and Witten, Romo has been trying to help break in a batch of young receivers, including Andre Holmes, Dwayne Harris, Raymond Radway and Cole Beasley. He has also been trying to fine-tune his game with veteran Kevin Ogletree.

“That’s a natural reaction for somebody who puts so much into things,” he said. “Playing in preseason games is a good test for these guys. It’s one thing to do it in practice, but it’s another thing to do it in a game situation. This is not the same situation we’re going to face in about 10 days when we go play the New York Giants.”

Through the first three games, there is not much more the Cowboys could ask of their frontline defense.

Two field goals allowed.

Seven sacks.

Five turnovers forced, including four interceptions, two by the star free agent signee, cornerback Brandon Carr.

But defensive end Jason Hatcher, who played in his first preseason game Saturday night against the Rams and notched a sack, said it’s hard to predict what it means for the regular season.

“It’s preseason,” he said. “We don’t do a lot of scheming. But it definitely makes you feel good to know that you’re playing this well this early. We can’t predict how well we’re going to do, how well we’re going to do as a defense right now, until we put a scheme together.”

Owner Jerry Jones said he is seeing fewer mistakes, game plan or no game plan.

“I am impressed that the mistakes have been minimized,” he said. “I know that the schemes that we’re playing and what we’re trying to do defensively, it looks like, I was really interested in what that would be tonight. We hadn’t had that many in the first two games, and we didn’t have many tonight on defense.”

The Cowboys got four sacks against the Rams. They came from two linebackers (Sean Lee and Adrian Hamilton), a cornerback (Mario Butler) and a defensive end (Hatcher).

Hatcher credited both defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s aggressiveness with blitzes and the coverage of the secondary.

“He’s definitely dialing it up,” Hatcher said of Ryan. “Every week, he’s putting some new stuff in. That’s just Rob. You look at him, he’s crazy. That’s the way he designs his defense.”

Hatcher said he clearly sees a difference in time to get to the quarterback, thanks to the additions of Carr and No. 1 pick Morris Claiborne at the corners.

“BCarr’s a monster. He’s a monster back there,” Hatcher said. “Claiborne is doing a great job. We get Jenks back healthy, he’s going to help us out a lot. So, we’re very excited about those guys on the back end. Very excited about the whole defense and where it’s going.”